CISA Budget Cuts Spark Bipartisan Concern
Two cybersecurity-focused members of Congress, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., have expressed concern that reductions to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have done too much damage to an agency essential to defending civilian networks against foreign adversaries.
Bacon, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, framed CISA as central to protecting domestic networks, including energy grids. He stated that officials had not appreciated the agency's defensive value, adding that the administration had moved in the opposite direction over the past year.
Threat Environment
Walkinshaw, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, echoed Bacon's view, tying it directly to the threat picture. He referred to Chinese-linked intrusion campaigns like Salt Typhoon, stating that the United States is contending with adversaries getting into critical infrastructure overseas and coming after big parts of the critical infrastructure industry at home.
Bacon ranked China as the leading cyber adversary to the United States, surpassing Russia, and said intrusions lay groundwork for further actions. He added that CISA's information-sharing function and its relationships with utilities and local governments are part of what makes a centralized civilian defense workable.
Case for a Well-Resourced CISA
Both lawmakers placed their concern in the context of a threat environment they described as escalating. They argued that most of the entities targeted by foreign actors cannot defend themselves on their own, and that CISA's role is crucial in helping affected entities restore their networks while the FBI works to identify the source.
Walkinshaw drew on his work during his time as a county supervisor in Fairfax County, Va., where he worked with Fairfax Water. He said that even as that utility was one of the most sophisticated, well-funded water authorities in the country, it struggled to keep pace with the volume and sophistication of attacks.
Smaller utilities, towns, and businesses, he said, have no realistic path to defending themselves against a nation-state. Bacon agreed, stating that small companies are the heart of American innovation but cannot be expected to stand up to adversaries operating with the resources of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea without federal support.
Budget Cuts
President Donald Trump's fiscal 2027 budget would cut CISA by $707 million, according to a summary released last month, though a separate budget document points to a smaller reduction of $361 million. Either figure would leave the agency with slightly more than $2 billion in discretionary funding, down from the roughly $3 billion it had at the start of the administration.
It has been a turbulent time for CISA during the second Trump administration, in which the agency lost roughly a third of its personnel, shuttered entire divisions, and operated without a Senate-confirmed director. Former officials, industry partners, and lawmakers from both parties have described diminished coordination with state and local governments, weakened relationships with the private sector, and growing concern about whether the agency retains the capacity to manage a major cyber crisis.
Restoring CISA's Capacity
Looking ahead, Walkinshaw said restoring CISA's capacity should be within reach of a divided Congress. He stated that in terms of bipartisan areas of agreement, restoring and expanding those capabilities and partnerships right now should be a top priority.
Advanced artificial intelligence expands the attack surface and makes centralized support more important, Walkinshaw added. The result is that the defense becomes more complex, and CISA's role in helping affected entities restore their networks is crucial.
In conclusion, the reductions to CISA have sparked bipartisan concern, with lawmakers from both parties agreeing that the agency's role is essential to defending against foreign adversaries. Restoring CISA's capacity should be a top priority for a divided Congress.
Source: CyberScoop